Coach driver stays on narrow road

Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (SWBTS) – After decades of running from God, Klaus-Peter Schmidt could not bear the weight of conviction any longer. For a year, he had attended a local Baptist church, sat under the preaching of God’s Word, and read the Bible given to him by the pastor. But he still felt desperate.

“On the 16th of February in 2011, I was driving in my car, and I felt like I should stop now,” Schmidt says. “I read the letter of John, and after I finished reading, I started crying. All of the sudden, I noticed what a sinful life I had led throughout all these years. And I was so grateful that through the words out of this Bible my whole life was being changed.”

Despite his desperation, he sensed the Lord saying over and over, “Do not give up.” Sitting in his car, he repented and put his faith in Christ.

“In this very moment, I knew that God had given me a present, that He had shown His grace to me, that I was really converted to Him.”

Schmidt continued to attend Bible classes and worship services at his church as much as possible. However, his profession as a long-distance coach driver often had him driving a tour bus around Germany on the weekends.

Then, one day, his company told him an upcoming assignment would involve driving a Christian group across five countries over the course of 10 days. Some may call it coincidence, but Schmidt says it was divine providence. The company assigned him to be the coach driver for Southwestern Seminary’s Radical Reformation Study Tour, which focused on traveling in the footsteps of 16th-century Anabaptists in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic.

“When I first got the documents saying it was Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I was smiling all over my face and thinking this can’t be true,” Schmidt says.

In addition to navigating narrow city streets and hairpin curves in the Swiss Alps, Schmidt listened in on the lectures about the committed believers who lived in the region and held to biblical principles even at the cost of their lives. Schmidt also joined the group to see the prison cells where Anabaptists were sequestered, the barns and caves where they hid to worship, and the riverbanks where they were drowned for their faith.

“I learned how important our personal faith is for us, and I’ve learned so many new historical and theological facts; I took everything in like a sponge,” Schmidt says. “At each and every place, I had the impression of diving into history and to learn from our forefathers.”

“I’ve experienced during this week such a true faith and a faith that is alive. It’s my goal to live the same kind of living faith. Every day was so amazing, so indescribable.”

Despite traveling some rocky roads in life, Schmidt is determined to stay on the straight and narrow road.

“During those 10 days,” Schmidt says, “I came to see how easy it can be to living your faith if you just live according to what the Bible says. It’s not easy for any of us. Sometimes we, ourselves, make our way pretty difficult.”

With God’s help and direction, Schmidt has set his course to stay on the straight and narrow road. His primary goal is to “live the life that God expects us to live together with my wife and little son.”